Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1887-03-04

our government will he a prpal dcspolism
and not "Republicnn." Our bright ban
ner, the lairest flower OF liberty that ever
shed fragrance aud balm Oh mortal man,
will then become II thing Of blight, decay
and stencil.
THE GREAT WORDS.
Article six, the last one contains these
wotd-, which have determined the destiny
OF our entire nation as much as any other
decree of our people save the Declaration
ut Independence "lhere shall he neither
slavery ror inyolunt'ry srrvitude in the
said territory" HID these five great
states adopted slavery We might perhaps
have escaped secession and the bloody
war. liut the whole land would have
been cursed with u hopeless d,rknrs1 and
II fatal degradation. How narrowly those
precious wards, those stare oi liberty, es.
Caped OhlitcraiiUn is apparent when we
remember lhnt in the first Ohio conHitu-
iiunal convention, and in early Indiana
strrnuuns tffrls were made
to obtain u repeal. Harrison, uf Indiana,
said that nine'tenihs ol the people desired
the repeal. In The passage of the ordi.
nance il Is remarkable that all the South
ern members voted for freedom. Gray.
son, one of the Virginia leaders In the
Cungresa, accounted for this in n letter TO
Monroe on the ground that the South
wished to prevent tobacco and indigo
from being made on the northwest side Of
the Ohio, us well us several other political
reasons"
PROPERTY QUALIFICATION.
A feature oil the ordinance that is re-
pugnnnt to the present day is the property
qualification imposed on the officials who
were to he chosen under it. No one among
the good and great of that time could be
appointed governor unless lie owned with.
in the territory 1000 acres OF land the
Secretary OF State had to own 500 acres
the three judges like quantity each the
representatives, in the territorial legisla-
turc 200 acres each. These ubslructions 10
the elevation of poor bnt competent men
would never been adopted had Jefierson's
term III Congress not expired.
For lio ouce prepared an ordinance for
the territory in which those burdens were
omitted. Besides, too, lie leaned some
what toward the theory OF community Of
land. lie wrote from France in 1855 to
Madison: The earth is given ns COM
mon stock for man TO labor and live on
II, for the encouragement OF industry we
allow ii 10 be appropriated we must take
care that other employment be furnished
to those excluded. III we do
not The fundamental right to labor the
earth returns TO the unemployed"
A properly qualification for voters even
was imposed in the older states for many
years. Later than 1880 no man could
vote in South Carolina and Maryland un-
less he owned fifty acres of land nor in
New jersey unless lie had Il property OF
$3.50.
WHO ORIGINATED IT.
The authorship of lh,s great statute is a
subject OF earnest dispute. Nathan Dane,
n Massachusetts, lawyer and Mannnsseh
Cutler,a native OF Connecticut, then a
clergyman IN Massachusetts in Danes dis
trict, are the rival claimants. Cutler was
not member OF this Congress. Dane
was member and one OF the committee
III ctnrge Of The ordinance, and il is ad-
mitted that he was the "scribe" for the
On July l6, three days after
its passage, lie wrote II friend: "Ihe ordi
nance passed II few words ex-
cep,ed IA originally formed it,"
Cutler was at the head oi a vast land
purchase in Ohio, aud was specially con-
cerned in the government 10 be eslab.
lished, and visited Congress to further his
enterprise. In his private journal OF hls
visit this is found respecting the ordi-
nance: "Ihe amendments l proposed
have all been made except one" His
letters Uf n later date claim the authorship |
TO iulier extent. Dane, on the contrary, |
forty years afterwards reatfiimed that lie |
himself constructed II. Webster bestowed |
an encomium ON The Ordinance IN hts re.
ply 10 llnyne, and gave Dane the credit.
This credit was challenged IN the Senate. |
and also outside. But in his published |
works IN after years Webster made nu |
change in his credit TO Dane.
THE SOURCE.
1t is idle 10 clam that either gentle. |
man originated the great principles. They |
were born one by one Oi the human heaIt |
as the pilgrim man wandered down the |
Old centuries encountering savagery, chains, |
arrows, educated tyranny, Dungeons, per |
prayers and fires, and bloody |
codes.
In the descent OF estates the pagan Ro- |
mans hy the twelve tables gave 10 dangh- |
Iers and suns equally, while Moses dlsIn-
herited The daughters II there were sons |
Prior 10 the Ordinance some of the sialcs
had adopted equality Of descent.
In The light Of the earlier beacons OF |
religious liberation up and down the colo
nies, aud especially among the literal
Catholics OF Mary land (l632), The Rhode |
Islanders (l636), aud the Qunkers under
Penn Oib), religious liberIy had found IL
friendly and permanent home. Congress,
therefore, only had to follow the example
and provide lUr It's safety III the new ter
ritOry.
The huwark against retroactive laws
imp'lrIng lriyaIe Contracts WAS new aGd
in English and American
statutes. Richard llenry Lee claimed to
have suggested II, and 80 did Dane. But
there Was loud demand .Or n PROTECTION
oil private contracts because the states had
been Infringing them 10y Laws allowing
them 10 be discharged IN other ways Than
their terms. Maryland, lur instance, made
slaves. land and many "f its products II
legal lender Tor prior debts: and even e2-
tended the Time ol payment. SJuh Car
DINA capped The climax Dy authorizing
parties to select any oi their properly
their pOoie-t-aii tender il nj Two hirdr
lis appraised value IN payment Uf prior
debts.
The s'cred covenant respecting schouls
ahd education MAS doubtless suggested 10y
the 2 section vi lie l5,h oliap.yr whIcn
John Adams DIR Led IN the AlaH-achu-
setis constitution seven years earlier, and
ulsO by the 81 clanse IN 'parl |" OF that
enactment. Ma--uchii-eils wns
the pioneer in pubic schools l4O years
earlier aud lhnse sciiuus did much in
lIberaiizing her Puritan religious inlulpr-
nnce and tyranny. How well schools and
the means OF education have been "en-
cOuraged" in these five states i, evidenced
by the present annual expenditure ol
ST 100000 lUr common schouls aud the
maintenance by private Or punlic moneys
Uf "a colleges and universities.
AS respects Justice in the courts aud
other private rights they copied what the
colonies had copied from magna charter
which the brave Catholic barons and
nraluIou IA al f,rpal fran, tI,.i. h,I,o